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Documented Life Project/Art Journaling

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This week just flew by, and I spent a lot of time working on assignments for my online drawing classes. I spent one morning, though, determined to finish up some of my DLP pages.

Although I got stalled on one of these pages for well over a week, I’m enjoying my foray into mixed media. I try to create the backgrounds and the calendar pages a few days ahead, so for this first spread I anticipated a road trip, and knew that the challenge was to create a Smash Book-type page of things you collected from the week. Our week turned out very differently that I expected. We did end up taking a very fast road trip to Chicago to get Sarah, Caleb, and Sadie, but there wasn’t any sightseeing. There was, however, quite a bit of eating out, and time for a little shopping the day we were in Chicago, so I focused on the eating out, and filled the envelope I’d already created with receipts. That’s something I’ve never included in my Project Life spreads, and even a few years from now, they may be interesting. Here’s the spread with the envelope tucked in. I started a list this week of the different media I’m trying, but I’m not 100% sure what I used here. Pretty sure it was watercolors again, which look a bit different applied over gesso.

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I really liked the way the collage from the restaurants came out. The large kraft piece in the middle was torn from the bag of subs I brought home for dinner one night. The little stamp in the upper right-hand corner is an old one from Hero Arts. I wrote some notes about each place as well. 

July21SmashBook

The next spread caused all kinds of problems. I used some red Dylusion ink to create the calendar page, but hadn’t applied a coat of Gesso. It leaked through everywhere so if you look at the page above, you can see I’ve added a piece over the top of the previous spread. Fortunately, since I was anticipating being away two weeks, the spread above was blank at the time. Then I used Faber-Castell’s blackboard paint on the right-hand page, and automatically drew a blank about what to do next. The prompt was to create a pocket. I used Distress Inks, the “Mini Picture Perfect” stencil by Ronda Palazzari and some black gesso to create the pocket. After thinking about it for nearly two weeks, I went back and doodled a border, wrote some of the places we went with Caleb while he was here, and put in five cute photos from those events.

July28 

I’m linking this page to the Moxie Fab challenge: “Clicking Cameras,” to use camera images on a paper-crafted project. The challenge ends tomorow. I’d love to get time today to create a couple cards since I have multiple camera images to play with! Here are the photos that I tucked into the pocket. My favorites are the ones with Caleb and the broom, and the one of Sarah and Caleb in front of the Sesame Street exhibit at the Strong Museum of Play.

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The last spread was done with acrylics, and the prompt was to use a fortune from a fortune cookie. I picked up a small package of fortune cookies at the grocery store, and this is the one that I pulled out first. It seemed so appropriate since I was enrolled in an online drawing class and feeling very inept, but forging ahead nonetheless. It gave me an opportunity to use another very old stamp from Alice in Rubberland. I’ll bet I’ve had that for nearly 20 years. I think I bought it on our first trip to San Francisco when Sarah was 16. I also used the dictionary I bought at the Avon Flea Market and tore out the definition for fortune, added the cellophane from the cookie, and some more doodles. I tried  using a Pitt brush pen, but don’t find I have as much control as I’d like with it. The little tab on the calendar page is from “Tabbed,” by Papertrey Ink, and I used some old number stickers from my stash for the dates.

Aug4Fortune

 

Hopefully, I’ll be back this weekend with a few posts for cards for the Online Card Class: Stretch Your Stamps 2. All the lessons have been posted, and I have a list of many things to try.

 

Art Journaling

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My friend and I enrolled in an online art journaling class in April. Overall it was pretty dismal. I wasn’t inspired by the artist’s final pages, and none of the techniques I tried pleased me in the least. I’m fascinated by mixed media, though, and didn’t want to give up on this. I’ve been following The Documented Life Project for awhile, and just as I decided I wanted to give that format a go, both Cheri and Alexa published posts about their journals. My reasons for starting the project are a bit different than theirs. I already keep a daily diary of activities to help me in my Project Life spreads, so daily documentation isn’t the motivating factor. My interest is in the mixed media aspect, and I’ve decided to do it a bit differently. Instead of using a Moleskine planner, I’ve created my own using a Dylusions journal I already owned. And for now, I’ve decided not to add the “tip in” pages until I know if I’ll need one. (A special thanks to Cheri, Roben-Marie, and Lorraine Bell for all their help in getting hooked up to the FaceBook page for the DLP.)

Journal

I created a template for the left-hand pages with a piece of lightweight cardstock and gessoed the first couple of spreads before starting the work.

Here’s the first week:

Week1

One of the issues I had with the art journaling class was that none of the pages were my “style,” which we all know is basically clean and simple. So for this first week, I stuck with some watercoloring, and wrote out some of my goals for the journal. The prompt for this week was to add a small photograph. The prompts are another reason I like this project; they give me a focus for the week. I kept my dates the same as my daily planner since I’ve been using that format since January. It’s off by two days since the new prompts from The Documented Life Project arrive on Fridays. That’s OK, it’s easy to be two days behind!

Week2

I was a bit more adventuresome with the second week, layering a variety of stencils I inked with Tim Holtz Distress Inks. The prompt was to make a wish list, and I listed three. I ran out of room for all the places I’d like to visit on my Bucket List!

I’ve already learned a bit in the process. I neglected to gesso one page and had to perform surgery on the journal for Weeks 3 and 4. But so far, it’s satisfying my need to play around more, a bit outside my comfort zone.

ETA:  I’m entering this in the Simon Says Monday Challenge which is J . . .  for Journal and July in this case.

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March Art Journal

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Thanks to Alexa for the template!

One of my goals for choosing to do my monthly recaps in an art journal was to try new techniques and materials as well as using some of the art supplies that have been lanquishing in my closet for years. This month I decided to try some patterned paper collage and brought out some Gel Medium that I purchased this summer in anticipation of this project. 

I wrote my journaling first, and that determined the theme for the pages. My first project was to create the five photos for the page. I decided to change two of them to a dark brown, and desaturated the colors in the other three photos. I used a Papertrey Ink Framed Out die and sized my photos to fit.

The next step was to choose some papers from a variety of 6X6 paper pads. The colors originated with the paper I’d chosen for the frames.

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Next I randomly cut up the papers in strips and rectangles and started assembling them on the pages, using gel medium to adhere the papers as well as coating the tops of the pages.

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Arranging the elements onto the pages turned out to be a relatively easy.

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I used my vellum envelope to hold the journaling and typed up the quote using the American Typewriter font. (Wish I had an old typewriter to use!) Once I decided to use the Studio Calico Wood Veneer letters, I thought another piece of Wood Veneer on the first page would provide some balance. Aside from the collaged pages, it’s a pretty clean and simple layout.

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A closer look:

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These pages weren’t as spontaneous as last month’s, but I’m quite happy with the way they turned out. Here’s the monthly recap in words:

March turned out to be
family month—always a pleasure. Matt was home to visit for a long weekend the
first of March, and to celebrate his 30th birthday. Then we spent the second
half of the month in Ashland, OR with Sarah, Adam, and Caleb. It couldn’t have
been nicer. The first ten days we were invited to stay in the home of one of
the members of Adam’s congregation. It’s a stunning Arts & Crafts home, and
we loved every minute of our stay there. The weather was terrific. While
Rochester was still buried in snow and experiencing winter temperatures,
Ashland was in full bloom. Pear and other fruit trees were in flower and
daffodils, hyacinths, and other spring bulbs were up all over town. The last
weekend we were there the temperatures were in the 70’s and 80’s, and we took
advantage of the warm weather with visits to North Mountain Park, the ice cream
parlor, and a day trip to Crater Lake.

Caleb is in day care four
mornings a week, and loves it so we didn’t want to break his routine. That gave
me lots of time to read and finish the “Bloom Your Blog” course with
Jessica Sprague. I finished reading Istanbul:
The Collected Traveler—a fabulous book filled with so much information
and our April book group book—The Given
Day by Dennis Lehane. As part of the course, I redesigned the blog, and
before we left, made nine cards.

Before we left for Oregon,
we finalized the plans for our biggest adventure yet. In May, we’re off to
Istanbul to visit a friend and her husband for five days, then to Athens for
two days, and finally a few days on Santorini—long on our bucket list. This
is a BIG birthday year for both of us, and our 40th wedding anniversary, so it
seemed like the perfect way to celebrate.

Two home improvement
projects were finished this month. We had pull-out shelves made for two
cupboards in the kitchen and new lights were installed in my studio and studio
closet. What a difference both projects make on an every day basis!

We spent a day in
Niagara-on-the-Lake with Karen and Mike, played duplicate at the O’Briens, and
had Rick and Marcy to dinner (who shared lots of good information about our
upcoming trip.) Mary and I heard Frank Delaney speak at Arts & Lectures,
and I participated in an interview process for the youth delegate to Synod at
Presbytery. All in all, a busy, fun, and productive month!

 

February Art Journal

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The day before we left for Oregon, I managed to finish the art journal pages for February. I have to admit, I find mixed media work a bit daunting. I’m never sure quite how any of it will end up and since I’m working in a spiral journal, it is what it is—no ripping out and starting over. 

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I did start out with a general idea of what I wanted to do, but it did end up somewhat differently than I planned. Even the quote changed as I worked on the pages. I started out with a water wash on the pages and then used a set of Inktense Pencils Sarah gave me for Christmas. It worked best to take the color from the tips of the pencils with a brush and then apply the color to the pages. I had two shades of red/pink and blended them together.

The dotted stencil was a piece of cardstock in which I’d die cut a circle border to test a die from Simon Says. I used a dabber and some Tim Holtz Distress ink in pink.

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The hearts were also the negative cut from Simon Says dies which I filled with several layers of Gesso and then painted over them with some metallic paints that I’ve had forever. The LOVE stencil were stencils I picked up for a dollar or so at A.C. Moore’s after watching the first video of  the “Use Your Words” class Rinda linked me up to, and the tiny stickers are from a set by Making Memories that have long been in my stash.

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I did some doodling around the edges of the hearts and hand drew the stems and leaves. You can see the metallic paints better in this photo.

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When Mary and I were in Buffalo I purchased enough vellum envelopes for each month’s summary.

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I used stamps from Papertrey Ink’s “Love Lives Here” for the houses, and the small hearts scattered on the two pages. The arrow stamp is from Studio Calico and I swiped one of the Papertrey tea dye pads around the edges of the papers.

Here’s the recap for February:

February started out with a trip to Buffalo for a card making class and lunch at Pano’s to celebrate Mary’s birthday. The first week was devoted to getting materials ready, setting up, and overseeing Church Leadership Development Day which went off well despite the heaviest snow of the season.

We met with Cheryl to start planning our overseas trip this spring, had a lively book group centered on Creating a Mind by Ray Kurtzweil, played duplicate at the Lenio’s, attended concert at the Eastman Theater, and a very powerful play, “Next to Normal” at Geva. We had meals with Dick & Eileen, Bill & Beryl, and Jill & Tom,

We didn’t do as much entertaining since we went on The Plan, an elimination diet, early in the month. It takes a lot of time and is slow-going, but overall we’ve majorly changed our eating habits. Both of us have lost a few pounds, and I’m finally seeing some improvement with a Eustachian tube dysfunction that’s caused some considerable discomfort for the last six months. I think we’re committed to staying on The Plan except when we eat out. 

I received quite an honor this month. One of my photos from a Camera Rochester competition was shown at Image City. Much to my surprise, it was chose as one of five “Gallery Picks.” This is the third time I’ve exhibited there through Camera Rochester, but I never expected to be singled out by the Image City staff.

I did a lot of reading for our upcoming trip and finished “Happier at Home,” but am still not finding the time I want for reading. I did complete LOAD–29 layouts this month as well as fourteen cards. 

I’m not as happy with this month’s pages as I was with last month’s pages, but I’m glad to be playing with some of my art supplies that have lanquished for quite a few years.

January Art Journal & Pass The Book

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I’ve had this book far too long, but I thoroughly enjoyed it, and have a page of typed notes and sketches of ideas I found within its pages. You can see some of my post-its here. So it’s time to pass it along.

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 You can read about Pass the Book here. If you’re interested in taking a look at this one, leave me a comment, and on Monday night I’ll pick a recipient. I’ve been interested in art journaling for a long time, but haven’t done anything with it in years. Sarah and I took an art journaling class together years ago, but I’m not even sure where mine is at this point. This book, however, and a couple of books I purchased this summer have renewed my interest. Since I’m not doing a monthly layout of my Capture Your 365 photos this year, I decided I’d start an art journal and recap my months there. I’ll probably add other pages as well. 

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I started by using my water color crayons to create a background, and then stamped on top of them with a texture stamp. I typed up the recap of the month and inserted it into a vellum envelope. The date stickers are from the Simple Stories Snap! line, and the wood veneer arrow from Studio Calico. I printed three photos from our trip to Florida on Epson Project paper and tore around the edges.

Page1

The photo in the middle of the page was altered with an action in the new Photoshop Elements 11. I’d read mixed reviews about this upgrade, but received a copy of it for Christmas, and like it very much! I’ve spent a fair amount of time playing around with it, and think it is the most user friendly yet. This page shows more stamping, some hand-drawn dots, a bit of Washi tape, and another wood veneer piece.

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Since we drove to Florida in January and flew home, I added the car on the first page, and the airplane on the second. Here’s a look at the two pages together.

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Here’s the monthy recap:

It was an unusual January for us. The month got off to a great start with the 50th Anniversary Party for the Presbytery at the Planetarium. All of us involved in the planning were greatly relieved by its huge success. 

As soon as it was over, Tracy & I hit the road for Florida. We drove Ellie’s packed van to her and then flew home. Our road trip to Florida couldn’t have been better. We visited with Susan & Eric in Delaware, Carole and Gordon in North Carolina, and Betty in Stuart, FL. We made quick stops in Atlantic Beach, St. Augustine, and Ponce’s Inlet on our way to Stuart. 

After two nights with Betty, we drove across to Ft. Myers Beach where Ellie is staying for 3 months with her friends, Dick & Caroline. They are avid birders, and I spent a lot of time photographing birds which they kindly identified for me. All of us spent a wonderful morning at the wildlife refuge on Sanibel Island. Another highlight was a trip to Naples to the Naple’s Art Gallery–a beautiful place with two fascinating exhibits: one on women painters and one by blind photographers.

Once we got home, we had the usual busy schedule with meetings, volunteer commitments, and social events. 

I finished two books: “The Plan”, and “The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry”; saw one movie, “The Life of Pi”; & enjoyed GeVa’s “Next to Normal” (powerful!). We had dinner with Tina & Bill, Cathy & Bob, Jill & Tom, Betsy & Skylar, & entertained  our book group.

Despite being away, I finished 16 cards & 1 layout, & started three online classes (The History Project, A Flash of Brilliance, & Inspired), as well as an 8 week course at the Community Darkroom on Photoshop.

For a first attempt I’m pretty happy with these pages. I actually had another two-page spread done in a different journal, but decided the pages were not heavy enough to handle the different medias I want to explore, so yesterday I took it apart and started over in this journal that has 140# watercolor paper.  Should be a bit more sturdy.

Don’t forget to leave a comment if you’d like a chance to read the book!